Michigan offensive line coach Grant Newsome met with the media on Wednesday to discuss everything offensive line with the media.
Desmond Howard Speaking to the Team
The great Desmond Howard just spoke to the team, which is always great to have him around and a great message to the guys.
Just a great message about your mindset and how that mindset and your perception shape your play on the field and your performance in the rest of your life. Are you looking at things as half empty versus half full? And how just that simple change can change how you are as a player, change how the team is.
We had a great question and answer session. It’s always awesome to have him around and he just embodies everything that a Michigan man is.
Battles at Left Tackle and Right Guard
We always like to think of it as a true meritocracy. Until the first game, until we get out there, every job is up for grabs. That competition is healthy.
Left tackle—(Evan) Link’s been there, played well in the bowl game, and he’s done a great job of elevating his play. We really challenged him to take that next step, to go from a guy who’s feeling his way through his first season, getting used to it, to go be the tackle he’s capable of being. I’ve been really impressed with the steps he’s taken this offseason to do that. He’s having a really good camp.
Andrew Babalola is competing there as well. Blake Frazier has gotten himself back healthy, and he’s done a remarkable job—for a guy who was out for spring—of getting himself back in the mix there.
I want to brag on my guys for a little, if you’ll let me. We are much deeper than we were last year, and it’s a credit to those guys and the investment they made in themselves—not just individually, but getting closer and tighter as a unit. We feel like we’re not just going to be better, but deeper than we were a year ago.
Battle at Right Guard
At right guard, we’ve really had four guys mixing in there. Nate Efobi has done a great job of making that next step from where he was last year to being a guy who’s put himself in the mix to be the guy.
Lawrence Hattar, who transferred in from Ferris State, has been in the mix. We’ve also been working Jake Guarnera there, as well as Brady Norton. So, another good competition.
It’s a credit to those guys where it’s not a feeling of, oh shoot, we’re going to have to play one of these guys eventually. It’s more, hey, we feel like all four of these guys are playing well enough that we can win. Who’s going to be the best one?
I feel like it’s the same way at left tackle. Like I said, Link’s elevated his game tremendously. At the same time, to have two younger guys who are still able to push him and make him better every single day has been awesome. No different than just having those bodies to even push a guy like Andrew Sprague at right tackle.
It brings out the best in everyone when you have that competition in the room. The cool thing has been—again, a credit to those guys—how close they’ve gotten, that you can have those competitions without it being malicious or nefarious. They all genuinely want what’s best for one another.
Learning Curve for Coaches
I think there’s definitely merit to that. I think it’s less about anything I’ve done and more a credit to those guys and them stepping up and meeting the opportunity. We realized we weren’t good enough last year as a team. And as the offensive line, you have to lead the team. That’s the expectation here. That’s the way it’s been.
Every great Michigan team—the offensive line has led the team. That’s how it has to be. Embracing that—you can either view it as a challenge and shy away from it, or you can view it as an opportunity.
I want to brag on those guys. They’ve really embraced that, and I’m excited to see them continue to do that work. Obviously, we’re nowhere near where we need to be yet, but the jump they’ve made has been tremendous.
Focus on Physicallity
I think it goes back to what I was just talking about. When you think of Michigan football, you think of that brand of football—the physicality—and it starts up front with the run game. It goes back to the offensive line having to lead the team, how we have to be able to run the football here.
There were times when we did that last year, but it wasn’t consistent enough. That’s on all of us, myself included in that unit. We’ve got to take that pride and take that step so the team can rely on us. When it’s a tough game or a close game, we’re going to be able to be physical, we’re going to be able to run the football.
It’s a credit to those guys and the approach they’ve taken so far. It’s shown up in camp, but it’s got to continue to show up.
Challenges with no Consecutive Home Games
From a purely practical, logistical standpoint, you’ve got to prepare and be ready for silent count—just like you are any time you’re going to play in a road environment that can get a little loud. But again, it goes back to mindset, and to what Desmond was just talking about. You can look at that as a challenge, or you can look at it as an opportunity—an opportunity to go out and do something that no Michigan team’s done before: go undefeated, go win a national championship without having back-to-back home games.
It’s been presented to the guys, and to their credit, they’ve had that mindset of—it may not be easy, but it’s something we can deal with, something we look forward to.
Potential Germany Trip
I’m sure it’ll be exciting, but just like you said, we’re really focused on this day, this practice. That’ll be something to look forward to once we get there next year.
Hattar’s Jump from D2 to D1
It’s like anything—I’m sure there’s been an adjustment. But the thing I love about Lawrence, and part of the reason we were so happy to get him as a transfer, is there’s a lot to be said for someone who’s won. He’s been a part of three national championships.
Yes, it was on the Division II level, but at the end of the day, you’re either a winner or you’re not. There’s something to be said for that—coming from a culture that Coach Nice has at Ferris State, where they’re tough, gritty, hard-nosed individuals. That’s what we are. That’s what we aspire to be every single day. So that says a lot.
Timeline for Picking Starting Five
It’s always a balance, because there are two ways you can look at it. One is, hey, I want to get the starting five set the first day of camp so those guys have four weeks to work only with each other. But on the flip side, you should want, in my opinion, to have the depth where—shoot—we’ve got four guys who are genuinely pushing at the right guard position and genuinely competing, as opposed to, oh, it’s going to be this guy by default because we don’t feel like we have enough.
Especially in a position like the offensive line, you’re going to start five guys, but you’re also going to start a bunch of different combinations. I don’t remember off the top of my head, but we probably started five different combinations last year because of injuries or whatever it may be.
I tend to look at that as the other side of it. Sure, you’re going to get those combinations set at some point before the game, but making sure the first time Crip (Greg Crippen) has to work with Lawrence, or with Nate, or with Jake, or Brady—whoever it is—isn’t in the fourth quarter at Norman because someone’s shoe came undone or their helmet popped off. That’s not great either.
So it’s a balance of finding the right depth, the right guys, and then letting them get comfortable.
Working with Chip Lindsey
He’s been great. He’s been awesome. The coolest thing for us has been—coming from a very different kind of style of not just offense but team—he’s been immensely successful everywhere he’s been, as an offensive coordinator and then offensively when he was a head coach.
He’s made us better not just by bringing in new plays, new ideas, new ways to think about things, but also by looking at existing stuff and asking, hey, how can we make this better? Or, hey, is this perfect? And, shoot, it may be. It may be what we want to do, and we may not touch it.
But just the kind of confidence—yet lack of ego—he’s had has been awesome. It’s been great for us as a staff, and I think the players really feed off his energy and that feeling from him.
Advice for Babalola, Playing as a Freshman
He’s definitely more talented than I am, so on the field portion, he’s got me beat. But I think the thing—not just for him but even a guy like Andrew Sprague—who, if we played a game right now, would be our starting right tackle, is that he’s still a young guy. Sometimes I catch myself, because he started the bowl game, and you think, all right, he’s this old vet. But he’s a young kid too. He’s started one game in his career.
Just them having that confidence. Maybe the best example is in the Alabama game, probably the second quarter, I looked at Sprague in the huddle and said, hey, it’s just football, right? He goes, just football. Just reminding them that they’re here for a reason. They’ve put in the work, they’ve put in the effort, and they’re talented enough. Just having that confidence.
I think that’s one thing as a room—the guys and myself—we’ve done a better job with this year: just having that confidence. There were times last year where, all of a sudden, you’re not meeting those expectations you had, and it can snowball on you. As opposed to having that confidence, having that swagger, while also understanding it’s going to take hard work.
On the Energy Change in 2024
It definitely did. I think it was probably that Northwestern game when you really started to feel the energy and the confidence of the team—and of the offensive line specifically—begin to shift. We put a big emphasis that week, and Coach Moore did as well, on just going out and playing confident, playing physical, and leaning into all the things this program has been built on.
The guys did a great job of meeting that challenge and just playing free and confident. To your point, I think that did show up down the stretch. The Ohio State game wasn’t some crazy high-scoring 50-point game, but most times that game’s not.
I think there’s a stat that over the last 23 or 24 years, the team that’s won the rushing battle has won that game. I think that says a lot about who we are as a program—that if we can run the ball up front and stop the run on defense, we’re going to be in a good position.
That Moment Against Ohio State?
I don’t know. It’s hard to pinpoint any one. We were talking about this with the team the other day. It was a different game than 2022. In 2022, you kind of point to the two big runs that everyone thinks of in the game. In 2023, you think of Rod’s interception.
2024 was just a different game. It felt like a lot more body blows, just chipping away, and then getting ourselves in that final drive to get in position for the field goal.
Best Traits for a Left Tackle
Confidence—confidence. I said this to the room the other day. Playing tackle, much like playing corner, is a very unique thing, even within the sport of football.
The example I gave those guys was, you think about hitting in baseball. If you succeed three out of ten times at the plate in your entire career, you’re a Hall of Famer. If you don’t succeed three out of ten times as a left tackle, you’re not making it out of the first quarter without being benched.
So having that confidence—not chasing that last rep or chasing that last set, as we would say—it’s tough. It’s a tough thing to do. And truthfully, to brag on him, the most impressive thing Link has done this year in the offseason has been that. It’s not easy to do, especially when you’re a young tackle.
There were times in games last year, like the Texas game, where it felt like we were in two-minute mode the whole second half. That’s tough for any offensive lineman, especially a guy starting his second game overall.
To develop that confidence, that kind of swagger—that it doesn’t matter how good this guy is or what happened last play—I’m good enough to do this, I have that confidence, I’m going to do this. Having that belief in yourself is not easy, but I think it’s the most important thing as a tackle.
How Often do they Work on Silent Count?
It’s something we work on throughout spring, throughout summer, and throughout fall camp. So you mix it in. It’s one of those things you try to keep ready so that you don’t have to get ready when it’s time to use it—just like last year.
So when we got to Ohio State week and did some in the Washington game, it wasn’t the first time we were doing it.
Working with Juan Castillo
Anytime you’re able to get someone with that kind of background, it’s awesome to be able to bounce ideas off them and hear the way they do things. And not just Juan—I’m very fortunate. I always say I’m the most blessed offensive line coach in America, not just to have an incredible group of players, but an incredible support staff.
John Marucci and Nick Gilbert, obviously Juan, Coach Moore in the past, Brett Ingles—there are a lot of great offensive line coaches in our building who I can bounce ideas off of or just talk through different things, how we see things.
It’s also awesome during practice. Analysts can’t coach, but if something happens on a play and we’re already on the next rep, John can grab one of those guys, or Nick Gilbert, or Juan. So I’m very fortunate to have that team to help our players.
He’s an incredibly smart guy—not just school-wise, but football IQ-wise. It seems like those go hand in hand, but definitely not always. He’s ten times smarter than I was football IQ-wise, especially that early in his career. It’s a credit to him—how much he cares about it, how much he invests in it.
That’s one of his best attributes, in addition to being very physically gifted.
Confidence with this Year’s Group
They’re closer, and that was one of the things—looking internally, talking with the guys, talking with Coach Moore throughout last year—what was the missing piece? What was the reason we didn’t click? Why didn’t we fire on all cylinders early in the season? Why did it take us so long to get going and feel like we were at the place we reached by the end of the year?
It really came down to the confidence element and the closeness. I think we’re a much closer group this year—not just on the field, but also off the field—and the guys are playing with confidence, which, at that position, is so critical.
It starts in practice. Having the confidence that we’re going to face the best defensive line in the country every single day. Thirty times, they’re going to beat us. That’s what good teams have—good back and forth. When you’re going against two edges who I think are first-round picks, and a whole D-line inside that our guys are going to have a shot to go play in the NFL and have great careers.
But understanding, hey, I’m not going to shy away from that challenge. If I lose a rep, cool—I’m back in on the next one. I’m going to get this next rep. I think we’re playing with that this year in a way that I didn’t do a good enough job of fostering and creating last year.
Who is Standing Out on the Defensive Line?
Those two edges—there’s more than two—but TJ and Derrick are great players. I think you really started to see it in the Bama game. Not that they weren’t having great seasons beforehand, but with Josiah not playing, the spotlight really shifted to them.
There’s a clip I have visualized in my mind—one of the early third downs—where they just condense the pocket. Two speed-to-power rushes, one on each of the two talented tackles from Bama. They walk them back into Milroe and get the sack. That was such a big boost—not just for the defense, but for us on offense too.
It’s funny. It’s nice to be able to see that and know, all right, that’s what we’re facing every day in practice. It’s a great challenge for us, and it makes our guys better. You get into games, and yeah, you may see other talented rushers and other stout defensive linemen—but shoot, there’s not going to be someone better than Rayshaun Benny. There’s not going to be someone with a better speed-to-power rush than TJ. Or someone who can play the run and rush the passer like Derek can. You go down the list, and it makes us better.
It helps create that confidence. When you approach it, visualize it, and think of it that way—hey, I’m going against the best in the country every single day in practice—yeah, I’m going to get beat once or twice, but I’m going to get mine too. It gives you that confidence, that swagger, that both sides of the offensive and defensive line need to have.ps create that confidence. When you approach it, when you visualize it, and you think of it in that way that, hey, I’m going to go against the best in the country every single day in practice, and, yeah, I’m going to get beat once or twice, but I’m going to get mine too, it gives you that confidence, that swagger that both sides of the offense and defense line need to have.
